a. Probably Haiti event on Saturday: Michael shared that the supplies for the Haiti kit are in and we are tentatively planning to put the kits together on Saturday. Three nursing students have taken charge of this endeavor and they will be advertising this event once details are finalized.

b. QEP Concert – Friday @: 9 SGA is co-sponsoring the concert on Friday so try to show up to show support!

c. Booth and QEP today: Thanks for all the work today at the booth!

V. Old Business

Undergraduate Council – Brandon Habron Brandon shared that some issues that were brought up this meeting were curriculum approvals (such as the catalog), spring graduate approvals, and the WCSC program adjustments such as prefixes to classes. The council also talked about the Community Learning web pages and potential changes for campus visits such as providing “fairs” with all the departments instead of having students go to the professor’s offices.

QEP Meeting – Brandon Habron Brandon shared that the QEP reported on a phone call with SACHS member Mark Smith,

who seemed to think all was going well with our QEP! They also talked about all the kick-off activities, including the concert this Friday (wear your shirts!)

c. Writing Committee – Michael Spory Michael shared that Dr. Elizabeth Vander Lei came to campus to meet with various

departments. The committee also talked about re-vamping the website to make it more appealing and user-friendly for students and faculty. Vi shared that the committee also talked about writing-intensive classes and what makes the classes writing intensive. They also talked about how to help faculty figure out how to assess the writing intensive classes.

d. USO – Michael and Darian Darian shared that various organization leaders shared about various projects such as blood drives,

Valentine’s Day cookies, and Haiti fundraising (YPCA). Inklings is working on publishing the literary magazine, Phoenix,

and also organizing trips to Black Friars.

VI. New Business

Revisiting goals from the fall Michael shared that he thinks we should think about what we can do to maintain the energy we started in the fall and to maybe table things that we no longer have momentum for. We are going to go through a list of the goals we talked about in the fall and think about their prevalence now. Some of the topics can already be crossed off, such as Common Grounds sustainability. Brendon shared about the Caf expansion, which there is still energy behind. The money for this will most likely come from the caf itself or perhaps Pioneer, but most likely not SGA. With regards to the SGA logo and websites, we feel we have covered them well (go Katie!) but at this point we don’t feel there is a need for a Facebook page anymore. General discussion ensued about all the things we talked about at the fall retreat. One major suggestion was to talk to Res Life about adding an office for the WeatherVane and Shen in the new addition of the University Commons in lieu of a Student Center. To sum up:

KEPT:

–Caf expansion/patio

-Faculty Forum

-Mural Painting (passed to art department unless they want our help)

-Concerts/Events/Films

TABLED:

-CSA Development

-Common Grounds Sustainability

-SGA Newsletter/Facebook/Logo & Website

-Mennonite SGA collaboration with other colleges (future execs can decide if they want to try to do this)

-Swappers

-Student Center

-Spirit Week (although this can be revisited in the fall, no one really participated in this year’s)

*NOTE: something to consider is a possible spirit day before a big game instead of a whole week*

-Student Fundraising (no need since it was for a Student Center and/or connector)

b. Identifying goals for the spring – being proactive Michael shared that it’s important for SGA to think about what we can to as

representatives for the student body, rather than just waiting for students to come to us. One idea he had was to host an “idea drive” to get an idea of what students are thinking about and talking about. We could also send out an all-campus e-mail reminding students that all meetings are open and they can always come in and share their ideas. One concern brought up was the housing crisis on campus that is a concern of many students, particularly rising juniors. This concern was thoroughly discussed! As far as energy behind a Spirit Day, Sarah and James agreed to talk about a possible spirit day and events that the SGA could sponsor as far as that goes.

VII. Open Floor

–Meg Brauckmann &Clare Shanley shared that the Students for Morally Responsible Investment in are holding workshops about morally responsible investment for the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference, which will be for about 100 students. There will be two workshops: one to talk about where the money from EMU is going in Palestine and Israel and the other to talk more about the “how-to” have an impact at EMU. They are hosting a speaker from Washington, D.C. to come down to hold these workshops and they are requesting $60 for transportation and housing cost for him. One student felt that this may not benefit many students at EMU since it is intercollegiate, but others felt that since anyone from EMU could attend and several EMU students are attending, it does benefit us. Most senators felt this money was going to go toward a good cause that would benefit many students.

Motion 17022010-2 to allocate $60 to Students for Morally Responsible Investment club for the speaker’s transportation and housing: Darian

Second: James

Motion passed unanimously

-Katie talked to Bruce about adjusting transfer meal times and his only concern was a staffing issue, but he is willing to adjust the hours of one of the night workers to have them come in earlier. He spoke to the “higher-ups” and things sounded enthusiastic; this is a very real possibility! We will find out what Bruce learns when he hears back from his bosses.